The Office of Undergraduate Education in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) invites applications for the position of Communications Specialist in charge of messaging to key audiences about career readiness and career services in CLA. This position calls for a self-directed, detail-oriented, and versatile communications professional who is strongly committed to generating and distributing engaging content.

The Communications Specialist is empowered to formulate concepts, determine tactics, and establish work plans for producing and disseminating a range of customized marketing and communications materials to meet strategic goals. This position reports to the Director of CLA Career Services and is a member of the CLA Career Services Strategy Team. This role will be responsible for communications for both the Career Services office and College's Career Readiness Initiative serving a wide range of internal and external stakeholders (undergraduate students, alumni, employers, faculty, staff, campus colleagues and leadership, and other external and community partners). This position may supervise student employees. The Communications Specialist works in close alignment with the CLA Undergraduate Education communications team to ensure the Career Services and Career Readiness communications strategy is aligned with the wider CLA strategy

Major Duties and Responsibilities

Communications Strategy (30%)

• Advise both the Director of Career Services and the Director of Career Readiness about marketing and communications strategy and encourage the adoption of best practices, alignment with market trends, and emerging technologies
• Coordinate long-range communications planning for CLA Career Services in collaboration with other collegiate communications teams as well as draft and propose an annual communications plan that will accomplish strategic goals, including how to position and deliver messages for different audiences across different channels
• Develop measures to assess the effectiveness of communications plans in meeting strategic goals and utilize assessment data to inform future planning
• Recommend annual communication expenditures

Content Development & Production (25%)

• Oversee generation of content, including text and visual assets, necessary to operationalize the CLA Career Services communications plan and assigned portions of the CLA Undergraduate Education communications plan
• Write original content and curate/edit existing text from other sources, including subject matter experts on CLA Career Services team, to meet strategic communication goals
• Design visual assets independently, curate existing visual assets, and coordinate with graphic designers, photographers, videographers, and other media producers for visual asset development
• Ensure that all content is accurate, consistent, and adheres to accessibility principles, University brand standards, and the CLA style guide

Communications Operations (25%)

• Manage the development, publishing, distribution, maintenance, and archiving of all print and electronic collateral, including but not limited to brochures, flyers, guides, signage, promotional items, enewsletters, website material, videos, course content, social media, and digital monitors
• Implement strategic communication plans through a mix of performing tasks independently, delegating tasks within CLA Career Services, and overseeing production through other teams, processes, and communications channels
• Send mass communications using the designated software
• Train CLA Career Services colleagues in communications best practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness

CLA Career Services Leadership, Professional Development & Service (20%)

• Serve as a member of the CLA Career Services Strategy Team that collaborates and consults with the Director to operationalize the team's strategic plan
• Represent CLA Career Services at key college meetings (e.g. Career Compass team) and at campus-wide events (e.g. Admissions events, Orientation, Welcome Week, UGE Events, etc.) as needed
• Commitment to ongoing social justice and racial equity work in order to identify, challenge, and remove barriers to access at the individual, community, and system level.
• Engage in professional development and scholarly activity in the field of student affairs and career development to maintain knowledge of trends and best practices (e.g. membership in professional associations, attendance at conferences and seminars, write articles, serve on teams and collaborate with other professional groups, etc.).
• Other duties as assigned and as appropriate to the individual's background and experience.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree plus 4 years of professional communications experience
• Demonstrated proficiency in writing for a variety of audiences
• Experience developing a communication plan or strategy
• Demonstrated effectiveness supporting principles of equal opportunity, diversity, equity, and inclusion, including experience supporting students and staff with varying identities and backgrounds

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience or strong knowledge of the benefits of a liberal arts education
• Understanding of/or experience in the delivery of career services in a higher education setting
• Proficiency in utilizing social media platforms
• Proficiency in Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Canva and/or other visual design tools
• Experience in web page editing, particularly with a Drupal CMS
• Experience creating and managing targeted email campaigns, particularly with Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• Experience training colleagues and/or student workers
• Experience with project management and familiarity with using ASANA project management tool

Salary Range

$60,000.00 - $72,000.00 (depending on qualifications)

CLA Career Services (www.clacareer.umn.edu) serves approximately 12,000 undergraduate students (and alumni in their first year after graduation) in the College of Liberal Arts, under the Office of Undergraduate Education, on the U of M's Twin Cities campus. CLA Career Services strives to offer a continuum of increasingly inclusive, unavoidable, high-impact career management development that advances readiness for all CLA students. This is done in alignment with our land-grant mission and with an increasing focus on meeting the needs of students who experience the greatest barriers to their career management development, while also deepening and strengthening career development support for the entire undergraduate student population.

CLA Career Services has a strong commitment to support the University's goal of creating a positive and inclusive campus climate for all. We believe that diverse perspectives propel us to do our best work in service to students' career development needs. We are seeking a diverse pool of candidates with varying identities and backgrounds.

Modality of services and role

Our business hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and our doors are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. This may evolve as we learn about how to best serve our students and employers in the hybrid environment of offering both in person and remote services. Many of our staff are working up to 40% remotely and flexibility will also be available with this position.

Working at the University At the University of Minnesota, you'll find a flexible work environment and supportive colleagues who are interested in lifelong learning. We prioritize work-life balance, allowing you to invest in the future of your career and in your life outside of work.The University also offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Competitive wages, paid holidays, and generous time off
• Continuous learning opportunities through professional training and degree-seeking programs supported by theRegents Scholarship
• Low-cost medical, dental, and pharmacy plans
• Healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts
• University HSA contributions
• Disability and employer-paid life insurance
• Employee wellbeing program
• Excellent retirement plans with employer contribution
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)opportunity
• Financial counseling services
• Employee Assistance Program with eight sessions of counseling at no cost
• Employee Transit Pass with free or reduced rates in the Twin Cities metro area

Please visit theOffice of Human Resources website for more information regarding benefits.

To successfully apply for this position please click the apply button, follow the instructions, and submit the following documents in PDF format:

* Cover letter

* Resume

The application review process will begin on February 23rd, 2024.

This position will remain open until filled.

To request an accommodation during the application process, please e-mail employ@umn.edu or call (612) 624-UOHR (8647).

The University recognizes and values the importance of diversity and inclusion in enriching the employment experience of its employees and in supporting the academic mission. The University is committed to attracting and retaining employees with varying identities and backgrounds.

The University of Minnesota provides equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. To learn more about diversity at the U: http://diversity.umn.edu

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in CLA

Working in CLA

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMTC)

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMTC), is among the largest public research universities in the country, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional students a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Located at the heart of one of the nation's most vibrant, diverse metropolitan communities, students on the campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul benefit from extensive partnerships with world-renowned health centers, international corporations, government agencies, and arts, nonprofit, and public service organizations.

At the University of Minnesota, we are proud to be recognized by the Star Tribune as a Top Workplace for 2021, as well as by Forbes as Best Employers for Women and one of America's Best Employers (2015, 2018, 2019, 2023), Best Employer for Diversity (2019, 2020), Best Employer for New Grads (2018, 2019), and Best Employer by State (2019, 2022).